Arctic Temperatures Dip But Crop Prices Spike Trent Brandenburg was working on his combine this morning in his heated (he emphasized) machine shed. His farming operation is in the middle of the typical central Illinois “zero stretch” of frigid February weather. Trent wants rain because the soil is very dry. “Now, not the day after […]

A Good Crop …but not outstanding, Trent Brandenburg sums it up. The excellent harvest weather enabled smooth field work. The dry days helped field drydown which lowers post-harvest cost for drying. Trent is happy with his yields. The nice fall weather enabled fall tillage to proceed rapidly. Trent is done with his fall field work. […]

Good Corn Yields – Beans Nearly Completed Trent is pleased with his harvest progress so far. He has harvested about 80% of his soybeans and now will proceed on his corn crop. His corn is 30% harvested “because the beans were ready first, so we did them.” The weather has been unusually favorable the past […]

Dry Hot Days in August Trent Brandenburg believes the last two weeks of no rain “took the top off” what had looked like bin-busting yields of both corn and soybeans. “We really needed a good rain two weeks ago,” he continued. Trent doesn’t see a rain event now making much difference, perhaps some improvement in […]

Corn Evens Out After Unusual Planting Season – Soybeans are Blossoming Trent Brandenburg is happy to see corn tassels and bean blossoms across his farm fields. His corn crop started out uneven due to cool and rainy weather and resultant ponding. As the season progressed, the corn growth has evened out so the crop now […]

Rains Were Prolific in April and May in Central Illinois As June arrives, Trent Brandenburg still has about 20 percent of his acreage to plant, mostly soybeans, due to the continuing wet weather. Trent, additionally, has over five percent of his already-panted acreage to re-plant due to ponding. Of course, the problem acres are the […]

Moving Along with Spring Planting 2020 Trent Brandenburg has already planted about 1200 acres of corn and soybeans. He is following his corn-bean rotation and choosing to plant fields with the best soil conditions and then planting according to his rotation plan. “At least it’s not as wet as last year,” Trent observed, explaining that […]

Machinery Ready for Spring Planting Trent Brandenburg has his machinery ready to roll. “It’s all pointed in the right direction. I’m just waiting for it to quit raining so I can drive it out of the machine shed.” Trent wonders if he will have another wet spring like last year. He is more concerned with […]

Late Winter Means Tax Time and Spring Equipment Preparation Trent Brandenburg is “doing my taxes” and added, “I do what my accountant tells me.” Taxes are not Trent’s favorite farm chore but has to be done anyway. The mid-February big snow and deep freeze (minus 15 wind chill) make these few days a good time […]

Winter Rains & Flooding Following 60 Degrees in January Trent Brandenburg believes the jumbled, abnormal weather patterns of 2019 “are not done yet.” He continued, “It’s supposed to get cold in December and stay cold until March. But here we are having 60-degree days in January and it’s still raining!!” Trent wants to move grain […]